Turboprop plane suffers engine fire

World / 26 March 2014, 08:53am

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Kuala Lumpur -

A local flight in Malaysia was forced to turn back when an engine caught fire shortly after take-off on Wednesday, the airline said.

The ATR 72-600 turboprop Malindo Air flight had left Kuala Lumpur's domestic Subang airport bound for the northern city of Kuala Terengganu, and reached about 2 000m when fire was detected in one of its two engines, according to a company statement.

“The captain decided to turn back to Subang and the aircraft landed safely without any further incident and no one was hurt,” it said.

“All the passengers were later transferred to another flight.”

The manufacturers of the aircraft and engine had been informed and an investigation was under way.

The statement did not say how many people were on board at the time, but they included a team from a local football club.

The aircraft, made by French-Italian company ATR, can seat up to 78 passengers. - Sapa-dpa